Recognition upgrades

Elite, Gold and Silver Airpoints™ members receive recognition upgrades each membership year, as a thank you from us for your ongoing loyalty.

These are valid for one year and can be used to upgrade one cabin class (for example, Premium Economy to Business Premier™) for one sector of a journey. If you're entitled to recognition upgrades through your Airpoints™ status, they'll be visible in your Air New Zealand account.

Allocation of recognition upgrades

Elite members receive two recognition upgrades and one Elite short haul recognition upgrade per membership year, plus the ability to gift these to anyone on their gifting register

Gold members receive two recognition upgrades per membership year

Silver members receive one recognition upgrade per membership year

How recognition upgrades can be used

On 777 or 787 aircraft operating between New Zealand and Eastern Australia or the Pacific Islands, excluding flights to Perth, Papeete, Honolulu and Bali or between Sydney and Rarotonga, members can move from Economy to Business Premier using one recognition upgrade

For medium or long haul flights on 777 or 787 aircraft members can combine two of their recognition upgrades to move from Economy to Business class

Recognition upgrade requests are made for each sector of a journey. For instance, for a flight from Auckland to London via Los Angeles, you will need to make two upgrade requests - one for the Auckland to Los Angeles sector then one for the Los Angeles to London sector

Requesting a recognition upgrade

To request a recognition upgrade, sign into your Air New Zealand account and go to the My Bookings section. Alternatively, you can call our contact centre.

To improve your chances of having your upgrade confirmed, it's best to request a recognition upgrade at the time you book or at least seven days before your flight. This will allow us to assess your request prior to processing any OneUp upgrades.

If you would like to use your recognition upgrade in conjunction with a passenger on your booking who is using an OneUp upgrade, please call our contact centre. They will divide your booking. Also if you are looking at using a combination of recognition upgrades and OneUp offers for different sectors of your journey then you will need to request your recognition upgrade first, after this you may make an OneUp offer on the remaining sector.